ICRA Proposal Guidelines

The IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation is the flagship conference of the IEEE Robotics and Automation Society (RAS) and the premier international forum for leading robotics researchers to present and discuss their work. Established in 1984 and held annually, the conference joins experts in the field of robotics and automation for technical communications through presentations and discussions. Each edition creates a remarkable environment to indulge all the delegates in the frontier of science and technology in robotics and automation.

The ICRA Steering Committee (ICRA SC) has designed a new procedure with the goal to make the process transparent and fair for all teams submitting a proposal for hosting an edition of IEEE ICRA.

Below, please find additional information for each of the five steps.

The bidding process starts five years in advance and is done in five steps:

Step 1:  Submit a Letter Of Intent (LOI). Note, that only a member of the IEEE-RAS can submit the LOI, preferably the general chair. Submit the LOI through this form by August 1 of each year. Only a single document (PDF file format only, 1 page) without any supplementary material is allowed. Guidelines for the content of the pre-proposal are outlined here. The LOI will assist the SC in determining reviewers for the next step while minimizing conflicts of interest. The ICRA SC will review the LOIs and may provide some high-level feedback and guidance to the applicants to submit a pre-proposal (step 2).

Step 2:  Submit a pre-proposal (written document, no slides). Note, that only a member of the IEEE-RAS can submit the pre-proposal, preferably the general chair. Proposers should submit the pre-proposal through this form by September 7 of each year. To keep the process lean and fair for all bidding teams, only a single document (PDF file format only, approximately 10 pages, not counting any supplementary material). Guidelines for the content of the pre-proposal are outlined here.
The ICRA SC reviews all pre-proposals and provides feedback to the teams. The ICRA SC selects up to two proposals. The two teams of these proposals are invited to prepare a full proposal by April 1 of the following year (step 3). 

Step 3: Submit the full proposal (written document, no slides). The two selected teams are invited to submit a full proposal through this form by April 1 of the following year. To keep the process lean and fair for all bidding teams, only a single document (PDF file format only, 15-20 pages, not counting any supplementary material). Guidelines for the content of the full proposal are outlined here. The ICRA SC reviews the full proposals and provides feedback to the teams which is shared with CAB and AdCom. Both teams are invited to present their proposal during the CAB meeting and during the AdCom meeting at ICRA (step 4). 

Step 4: Presentation of the full proposal at ICRA (slides). Both teams are invited to present their proposal during the CAB meeting and during the AdCom meeting at ICRA. Their proposals and SC reviews are shared with all members of the CAB and the Administrative Committee (AdCom). Only the presentation is required for this step. To keep the process lean and fair for the bidding teams, only a 20-slide presentation (PDF file format only) without any supplementary material is allowed. After the presentations during the CAB meeting, the ICRA SC may prepare a recommendation for AdCom. After the presentations during the AdCom meeting, AdCom members vote, and the winning team is announced.

Additional information and support:

Please find additional information for preparing the proposal documents in these detailed guidelines.

To get help, support, and feedback throughout the entire application process, please reach out to RAS staff members (ras@ieee.org) or the ICRA Steering Committee, especially before submitting any document.